Coco’s Penthouse
Victoria spun around towards Jaroline, quickly taking a pen in hand.
“Well, seems you’ve finally decided to take notice. I am Ms. Dunton. I take it from that job offer you just received that you must be Jaroline. Now, what was it you and Ms. Misaki were talking about just before I came in?”
Tira's personality suddenly shifted again, and she ran after Gary.
No, wait, wait Gary, don't leave me out here!
She ran after him into the house.
But did you really meet someone with a thousand voices in their head? That sounds like it'd be really noisy!
She also looked over at Victoria, Jaroline, and Nep.
Oh, and who are you guys? You here for the party too?
2 Spooky 4 U
By the tone of voice and body manner, grumpy was out and happy was in. Whatever that was a good thing or not was a question still left unanswered. Still, it was good that she was willing to try and act friendly. Something about her reminded Garrus about the crew of the Normandy. Skilled, deadly, crazy, and not like anything else. Yeah. That was it. As far as Garrus knew, this Earth was his new home until he found his way back to Shepard, whatever that meant coming back to his closest friend or new found lover. So, until then, he needed a new squad. Tira seemed like a good start.
Allowing Tira to catch up and stand by stand with him, Garrus looked to the side at her and tried to explain to her in a way she would understand, "Well, it's less like a thousand voices and more like a thousand.....souls in a metal body and they all work together to control the body. Their name was Legion."
Hoping she should understand that, Garrus would then look at the two Tira was talking to. "Weren't you the person who kicked up the door during the city meeting? A+ opening," he said to Jaroline in a amused tone.
edited 8th Oct '17 1:53:25 PM by LightToAll
Coco Adel - Home
"Oh, excellent. Simply exquisite. You can move in right away, there's no paperwork needed for that, and then we can get you started in City Hall tomorrow just as soon as we get you officially on the books," Coco said to Jaroline. "Today, you can simply get accustomed to being in town. Though you'll need to stop by the dry cleaner for me...."With that, she started to get a few more place settings and plates to start getting the table set.
Coco’s Penthouse
“That sounds like a nightmare to manage,” Victoria remarked to Garrus’s comments, having not listened to whatever he was talking about before with Tira.
“Oh, and yes, the two of us are here for the party. There was another among us but you just missed her.
“In my experience, parties tend to have a bit more flair to them, but you’re here.”
Victoria’s mouth stayed a bit open, as if she was going to say more, but then she shut it, glancing to the side while resting her hands on her hips.
Outside City Hall
The raven perched here would see the all-too-familiar sight of Vinny and Jimmy’s car drive by. However, this time there seemed to be a third man with them.
The third man had ashen blond hair that went midway down his neck and then curled outward. He also wore a white, button-down shirt and jeans. Although Tira was not party to this fact, this was the same man that Jaroline saw talking on the phone while at the grocer.
The three of them stepped out of the car. Jimmy and Vinny had a sandwich wrap in their hands, which they occasionally took bites into.
The third man looked the building up and down.
“You said this place was closed.”
“Well,” said Vinny, “it looked like it was closed.”
“Yeah, there was nobody in there,” Jimmy added.
“Well clearly, you didn’t look hard enough!”
The two men in black suits looked at each other awkwardly, but then ultimately decided to keep eating their wraps.
“Er, sorry about that, big boss,” said Jimmy.
“Don’t tell me you already forgot…”
Just as the currently unnamed man was about to finish his thought, he happened to look up where Tira’s raven seemed to be perched, leaning a bit forward while resting his wrists on his hips.
“I don’t like the look of that crow.”
The man’s two associates looked up to where the crow seemed to be perched.
“Something wrong with it?” asked Jimmy Jacobs.
“Looks like an ordinary bird to me,” said Vinny Vegas.
“Remind me to take up a few new hobbies while I’m out here.”
Keeping his eye on the raven (or where it used to be), the third man began to walk towards the entrance of City Hall.
“Alright boys, let’s just get what we need quick and simple.”
The three men went straight into the city hall building, and from there went out of the raven’s line of sight.
Jaroline- Coco's Penthouse
"Oh, she was just asking where I was coming from, and how not many people here were residents before the clowns and everything."- Jaroline answered Victoria
She then turned to Coco
"Oh, that simple? Alright, understood." Jaroline responded
"I do my best."- Jaroline winked and pointed at Garrus.
Nep then vanished out of Jaroline's sight, her work done and tired. At this, Jaroline was disorented a bit, but otherwise just chalked it up to her seeing things.
edited 9th Oct '17 11:44:27 AM by Boomer75
Coco’s Penthouse
“That certainly seems to be the case around here,” Victoria remarked.
“Speaking of which,” she began to say to the mayor, “I don’t suppose Jaroline’s recent employment would happen to involve planning for this gathering that’s supposed to be coming up. Or is someone else in charge of that? From what I recall, these sorts of events tend to be quite large, and I could hardly imagine any of us wanting to host our own pity party.”
Wow, a thousand souls in one body? Tira said, eyes wide with shock. That's, like....a lot more then a lot. Nighty would have really wanted me to kill him and bring him all those souls.
Moving on from this not at all foreboding or worrying comment, Tira turned to Victoria. Oh, wait, wait, they're having another party? I wanna go! Are they going to have cake?
Coco's Penthouse
"Well, I only heard about it just recently. That said, I could really go for something right now."
Ainz and Shalltear - Home
Later in the day, Ainz came home from his work and Shalltear was there waiting for him. "Welcome home Ainz-samaa!" Shalltear took a knee bowing, and Ainz looked away for a moment. She always did this and he was still slightly embarrassed by it. "Thank you Shalltear. I'm sorry I'm late. Did anything happen today?" "I'm glad you asked Ainz-sama, I discovered something while training today. Perhaps the fastest way is to show it to you." "Oh?"
Ainz watched with interest as Shalltear held out a hand and a white form appeared in front of her palm. It quickly expanded and shaped itself into the instantly recognizable form. Within 10 seconds, it solidified into the familiar Spuit lance form. A long land with a pipette design, its mainly dark purple body and dark gray tip contrasts the lighter pink orb at the top of its hilt. Both knew that would it start to regenerate her health, pieces of it would open up revealing the long similarly pink shaft in the center hidden under the dark purple exterior. "The Spuit lance, you didn't have this when we arrived did you?" "I can assure you Ainz-sama that I did not, it just appeared in my inventory." So we can grow stronger in this world. But why would that be a weapon. An item that is normally found or won, rather than physical boosts or new abilities. Very curious.. "Well, good job Shalltear. This will surely help when new enemies come to light." "You are too kind Ainz-sama, surely you planned this all along."
Ainz coughed, I don't like it when they attribute everything to me.. "Well in any case we were invited to a party so we should get going. Please keep that lance hidden unless we are attacked by powerful enemies. We don't need to show our cards unless we have to." "As you command, Ainz-sama" Shalltear donned a casual red dress that went down to just above her knees while Ainz wore blue slacks with a white shirt and a lighter blue jacket.
Ainz and Shalltear - Penthouse
"Everyone is probably here already. I would have liked to have come sooner but it can't be helped." "Of course Ainz-sama, they should be excited to see that you have come to take their offer at a social gathering." "Try to keep things to a minimum Shalltear, you may get advances so just don't get violent okay?" "As you wish Ainz-sama." Ainz held up one hand and with the back of his knuckles he politely knocked twice.
edited 11th Oct '17 7:58:33 AM by StephanReiken
Coco - Coco's Penthouse
"Jaroline, be a dear and get the door," Coco called out to her new assistant. Only just hired and already she had found a way to use the girl to save herself some time."That's something we'll need to see about," she added to Victoria. "We'll have another City Council meeting to clear things right up, iron out the details and finalize a budget. If that sort of thing interests you, feel free to attend, though most people find them rather dull. Now then, I need you to toss a salad." She pointed at a bowl of mixed greens that wasn't completely full and a few bowls and plates of items that had to be mixed into the bowl with the large utensils nearby.
Coco’s Penthouse
“I suppose I could use a diversion or two,” replied Victoria in regards to the upcoming meeting.
With that, she walked over to the table/counter where everything was gathered, placing her notepad and writing implements somewhere she could keep an eye on them. She quickly looked the ingredients over, let out a slight puff of breath, and began mixing the various items in whatever manner seemed most proper.
2 Spooky 4 U
Really, he could try for hours to explain the exact details about the Geth and then give the full story about Legion but frankly Garrus barely understood half of it at times. Heretics, AI hivemind thinking, advanced hostile bots, and more just made it a chore. Now the story of the "Biotic God"........that's a fun story.
Anyway, he answered back to Jaroline's wink and pointing with a cheeky, "And already reaching the top spot in local government. Don't tire yourself out during all that climbing," and then he considered what Tira said. Ask. Don't ask. Ask. Don't ask..............File it as "ask about later" and put it alongside "really explain what Legion is" on the to-do-list. Asking about Tira's soul stealing activities didn't seem like proper party discussion. Still, someone called "Nighty" and wants souls doesn't sound exactly like a friendly guy. "And maybe this time you can try to enter the party through the front door?" said Garrus to Tira.
edited 11th Oct '17 7:28:57 PM by LightToAll
Jaroline- Coco's Penthouse
"... Huh?"- Jaroline said to Tira's comment. She's seen people say weird things, but this is new. She could just be a bit crazy though.
Ignoring that, seems like she may be responsible for the relief meetings. As long as people don't get too condescending, though, it'll be alright, albeit a bit- okay, really boring.
There then was a knock at the door, which she was asked to get.
"Okay!" She did so.
"Of course not, I never push myself to hard."
Somewhere, out there, there was a Nep feeling a sudden urge to point out a contradiction, but she didn't know why.
Ainz and Shalltear - Party
The door opened to reveal Jaroline, and others within line of sight of the door. Ainz tried to smile although as his face lacked facial expression literally nothing happened. "Hello, yes sorry we are late. Work ran long at the library. May we come in?" Did I see this girl at the town hall meeting? I don't remember her but there were a lot of people there. Shalltear, slightly behind Ainz, merely bowed and awaited the response.
Coco’s Penthouse
Victoria didn’t quite have a clear line of sight to the entrance, but she turned her head when she heard people come in through the front entrance.
Coco’s home phone (or whatever was equivalent) would then ring. The call seemed to be coming from Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Richards, as could be told by both the number, which Coco would likely recognize, and the name on the display.
Outside City Hall Building
After some time, Jimmy, Vinny, and the third man had finished up with their business inside. Without making much commotion, they would begin to drive off.
edited 13th Oct '17 7:10:09 AM by CathariSarad
Coco’s Penthouse
Once she was done making the salad and doing whatever else she might have needed to do, Victoria would wander over to where Coco’s home phone had been, and briefly glanced at it (assuming it was somewhere within sight and easy access).
“You should probably pick that up,” she noted.
After that, Victoria would walk over to the front entrance, where Jaroline, Ainz and Shalltear had been gathered, bringing her notepad and writing implements with her.
“Ah, it seems the librarian and his assistant are here,” Victoria said as she briefly turned back to the mayor.
Ainz would have likely seen Ms. Dunton at the library sometime within the past few days, though it was possible he might not have taken much note of it, seeing as the two of them had barely interacted during the meeting at City Hall. Should Ainz have chosen to take note, he might have remembered that Victoria had checked out some book on the occult/supernatural along with a mystery novel.
“Welcome, welcome!” Victoria said to Ainz and Shalltear, “We’re about to have some… err… rather humble refreshments! You wouldn’t happen to need help with anything, would you?”
Ainz and Shalltear
Ainz bowed and led the way in, while Shalltear did a much deeper bow and followed. Many of the others here they could recognize from the town hall meeting. Some had probably been to the library before, some Ainz knew were at the library recently. Without the internet, it was an important source of information in the city. "Thank you, no I'm fine." Ainz responded politely to the offer.
Shalltear smiled, "I'll take whatever drink you can provide." While not too young, Shalltear looked to young to be served an alcoholic drink. Such a drink however would not affect her vampire physiology. She has tried that, tried very hard, but she is immune to the effects. As the new party guests quieted things a bit, Ainz spoke. "So how is everyone? Recent events have been rough but I think the city held pretty well. It is fortunate that we have military close by to help deal with incursions."
Jaroline- Coco's Penthouse
"You certainly can." Jaroline opened the door, and then walked with the group
"Well, wrist's broken, but at least I'm employed now." Jaroline said to report her status, looking down to her sling in the process.
"Is the military even effective against clowns? I've heard... divided opinions."
edited 15th Oct '17 7:57:18 PM by Boomer75
Coco’s Penthouse
“I have been doing well,” said Victoria. “I don’t quite recall if we’ve ever spoken before,” she said to Ainz and Shalltear, “but you may call me Ms. Dunton.
“While I can’t quite speak much for the effectiveness of the armed forces, I do not think we would have survived very long were it not for them and our Alliance’s strong coordination and leadership.”
edited 15th Oct '17 8:23:37 PM by CathariSarad
Coco - Penthouse
"Why yes, I think I shall. Thank you again for your help, Victoria," Coco added to Victoria before making her way to the phone. Glancing at the caller ID, she briefly turned around so she could look at where Jaroline was. Surely she could have her new assistant... no, this was probably something she would have to deal with by herself."Hello," she said, picking up the phone. "You're a go for Coco."
Coco’s Penthouse, Phone Call
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Richard’s voice spoke through the phone, “Good afternoon, Mayor. Tried to contact you through City Hall but it seems you weren’t there.
“I’m here with a representative from Stockmann Industries, and he’s said some rather interesting things regarding the incident on the eighth.”
Named after its CEO and founder, Stockmann Industries was a company that had risen to prominence during the Clown Crisis, and it was one that Coco and others would likely recognize or have some familiarity with. Its main specialties were drones and guided weapon systems, though it was rumored to dabble with other fields of study and hardware. The company had a number of facilities located throughout the Alliance, including one in Lakeside, though its primary facilities were located within the Chicagoland vicinity and Detroit.
“I figured I’d tell you this since you were involved in that whole scenario and might be more in the know about these sorts of things. You know that exoskeleton that one gnome was in? Apparently, the suit he was wearing uses some sort of fancy doohickey similar to something the boys over at Stockmann are developing.”
edited 16th Oct '17 2:54:14 PM by CathariSarad
Coco - Penthouse
"My my, that truly is fascinating, Lieutenant Colonel," Coco said on the phone. "If I am not mistaken, they happen to have a facility right here in town. Now would you say it's more accurate that Stockmann happens to be developing technology similar to theirs... or are you trying to imply that the Clowns are developing technology based on Stockmann?"
Ainz and Shalltear
"They brought sufficient weaponry to the field of battle. The soldiers they use are useful but they would probably do better if they could deploy larger parties. Just as I would not be at a disadvantage if I had more allies to rely upon." Ainz nodded. "Yes, I expect things will not be so easy all the time. With a majority control of the world the enemy should be able to mobilize more than enough to overwhelm a single isolated city. In the wide scheme of things we can only hope that existing forces can hold out and keep the enemy on a multiple front battle."
edited 16th Oct '17 6:49:27 PM by StephanReiken
Jaroline- Coco's Penhouse
"A Part Time? No problem-" Jaroline responded, until she metioned a personal assistant job.
This... would solve quite a lot of her issues. Mostly she had shelter. In exchange, she'd have to settle down here more...
Wait, was that a negative? Not really, this has been the most hospitable place to her. Looking to Nep, who nodded, she then responded.
"Very well, where do I apply?"
Nep also noticed a girl looking annoyed at Jaroline. to this she pointed Jaroline in her direction.
"Oh, um... Hello?" Jaroline asked